Across the Commonwealth: CAL wins 2A, St. Henry 1A crowns

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Christian Academy of Louisville Centurions (pictured) and St. Henry Crusaders won the in-season Class 2A and 1A state tournaments over the weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CAL (18-2) knocked off Calloway County, 3-0 (25-6, 25-9, 25-13) then survived a battle with Franklin County, 3-2 (25-18, 25-14, 19-25, 23-25, 15-8) in the semifinals before knocking off Taylor County, 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-15) in the championship game. This marked the fourth different champion in the fourth year of the event.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CAL freshman [player_tooltip player_id='601632' first='Kayleigh' last='Rogers'] won the tournament's most valuable player award after posting 23 kills against Taylor County and 24 against Franklin County. Setter [player_tooltip player_id='753354' first='Ella' last='Baker'], outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='159345' first='Caroline' last='Bates'], middle blocker Kate Chase and libero [player_tooltip player_id='479282' first='Katrina' last='Oswald'] joined her on the all-tournament team. Bates had 19 kills in the title game with Baker posting 53 assists. Oswald led the Centurions with 18 digs and Rogers had 13. Baker and Lexi Schaffner dug up 10 balls each with [player_tooltip player_id='484282' first='Mia' last='Boyd'] digging up nine balls.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All-state setter [player_tooltip player_id='159348' first='Emily' last='Melton'] had 32 assists and three aces for Taylor County (17-6) in the title game. [player_tooltip player_id='484299' first='Madelynn' last='Yates'] had 17 kills and [player_tooltip player_id='521229' first='Harper' last='Johnson'] had 12. Senior libero Claire Coyle added 13 digs with Elizabeth Morris recording eight.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Henry (22-2) won the All "A" State Tournament for the eighth time in school history. The Crusaders did not lose a set on the way to the crown. [player_tooltip player_id='159389' first='Elizabeth' last='Casey'] earned the tournament's MVP honors with [player_tooltip player_id='159378' first='Corrine' last='Blackburn'], [player_tooltip player_id='610406' first='Kenadi' last='Sieg'] and Violet Main joining her on the all-tournament team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Louisville Holy Cross made its third appearance in the championship game. The Cougars won it in 2009 and also finished state runner-up in 2021. Twin sisters Trinity and Tristen Ward made the all-tournament team for Holy Cross along with Hannah Carter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>McCracken County Wins Quad State Tournament</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Mustangs (19-1) have continued to role going 6-0 and winning the Quad State Tournament. The lone loss for the Mustangs came against Ozard (Missouri) on Sept. 13.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Apollo wins Allen County-Scottsville Tournament</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Apollo Eagles (18-3) took down the Adair County Indians, 2-0 (25-16, 25-21) to win the Allen County-Scottsville Tournament on Saturday. Apollo has a number of contributors led by hitters Abbigail Butterworth, [player_tooltip player_id='484301' first='Avery' last='Gray'] and [player_tooltip player_id='210631' first='Ava' last='Fazio']. Jessica Lee leads the Eagles in assists and [player_tooltip player_id='612255' first='Jessie' last='Pate'] leads the team in digs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Indians turned over a new leaf going 4-1 in the tournament. They are 15-6 on the season breaking last year's record of 14 for the most wins in a season in school history. [player_tooltip player_id='535275' first='Olivia' last='Mantooth'] and [player_tooltip player_id='666959' first='Josie' last='Blair'] continue to lead the Indians in kills at 199 and 161 respectively with Anslie Spoon and [player_tooltip player_id='210630' first='Jazlyn' last='Kemp'] taking turns setting with 289 and 236 assists, respectively. [player_tooltip player_id='793716' first='Kinzlee' last='Akin'] leads the Indians with 250 digs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Notre Dame update</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Pandas (14-2) took care of two solid opponents this week. They went on the road to beat Mercy, 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-23) then knocked off the top-ranked team in Ohio's Division II, the St. Ursula Bulldogs, 3-1.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Highlands Handles NewCath</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bluebirds moved to 11-4 on the season with a sound 3-0 (25-15, 25-11, 25-17) win at Newport Central Catholic on Thursday. Highlands won for the 15th time in the last 16 meetings between the two.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The usual leaders chimed in for the Bluebirds. Sydney Shomaker had 14 kills and [player_tooltip player_id='486907' first='Lyla' last='Bottom'] had nine. Setters [player_tooltip player_id='395942' first='Ella' last='Cox'] and [player_tooltip player_id='503792' first='Ava' last='Muzumdar'] had 18 and 17 assists, respectively, and [player_tooltip player_id='276170' first='Hayden' last='Gessner'] had 13 digs. A big contributor for Highlands with 11 digs was junior Madison Barlow. Gessner leads the Bluebirds with 194 digs on the season and Barlow is second with 81.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Grinding until Results Come</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Campbellsville Eagles did not have an easy start to the season with a tough schedule, but kept improving.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the 12th game, that first win came 3-0 over Washington County on Monday. The Eagles (3-16) have twice since then.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Milestones</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Franklin County senior [player_tooltip player_id='159328' first='Sophie' last='Dufour'] landed her 2000th career kill in the win Tuesday over Frankfort. Dufour helped the Flyers (22-3) to the Class 2A semifinals. Dufour has 520 kills, 246 assists, 221 digs and 36 aces on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ryle junior setter [player_tooltip player_id='212347' first='Morgan' last='Heater'] earned the 1000th career assist in the 3-0 win over Dixie Heights on Thursday. She had 340 for the Raiders (16-3) on the season entering the tournament in Lexington on Friday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Conner senior setter Mackenzie Sandeen landed her 500th career assist during the Thoroughbred Smash over the weekend. She led the Cougars with 272 on the season entering the tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Notable Peformances</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["601632"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66f0cb5bdb496"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Rogers is not only versatile, but extremely athletic so it is no surprise she won MVP honors in the Class 2A state tournament. She's as reliable of a hitter as anyone for the Centurions. Rogers gets a lot of one-on-one matchups when other teammates are putting balls down and that was the case in this tournament. She goes hard after balls and can land aces serving. Rogers has 288 kills, 170 digs and 26 aces on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["159389"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66f0cc903a3a3"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Casey continues to thrive in the fast-paced St. Henry offense. Casey constantly hits balls through blocks and to the ground. She also finds ways to hit them off blocks and out of bounds. If she's facing a hard double block, Casey can adjust in the air and tip the ball over the blocks. Casey is also sound on defense, consistently moving her feet and tracking down balls with quick hands and arms.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Abie Butterworth","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2025","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"6'0u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"32564","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Apollo","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"[program_tooltip program_id='431913' first='Owensboro' last='Volleyball Club']","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66f0dd747abc7"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Butterworth was fabulous in helping the Eagles win the Allen County-Scottsville Tournament. She constantly found different ways to put down balls. Butterworth hits balls off blockers from the pins and does a great job adjusting in mid-air then tapping balls over blockers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["666959"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66f0dd747ad45"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Blair is a big reason behind the culture turnaround for the Indians. She's sound at the net. She does a great job seeing the floor then making whatever adjustments are needed to put balls down. This includes hard shots to corners. Blair also teams up well with teammates on blocks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["612021"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-66f0dd747ae93"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Smith has a bright future ahead of her for the Eagles. Smith does a great job quickly transitioning from defense to offense. She makes a nice pass to the setter then quickly positions her feet, takes her steps then smacks balls to the other side of the court. She can hit balls off blocks and to the back line. She's not afraid to get after it defensively as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->